Wrinkling characteristics analysis of inflated membrane arch

Wrinkling characteristics of inflated membrane arch are studied in this paper using numerical and experimental methods to obtain the rules of winkling formation and evolution. The influences of pressure, thickness, structural size and loading cases on the winkling characteristics of inflated membrane arch are analyzed in detail. The wrinkling forces, wrinkling locations, wrinkling evolutions and load-carrying ability of the inflated membrane arch subject to different loading cases are then predicted. The experimental tests verify the accuracy of the numerical results in the end. The results show that the structural size is the most important factor to winkling characteristic of inflated membrane arch, the inflated pressure is the second important factor, and the thickness is the less important factor. In five loading cases, Fx is the safest one, Fz is the most dangerous one, anther three loading cases are just between the two loading cases above.